Veloxrotaphobia
by miss-mika-mi
Summary: <html><head></head>If there was one thing that really scared Danny, it was roller coasters. Not that he would ever admit it unless he absolutely had to. Danny/Rusty. Fairly fluffy. I don't own the movie or the characters.</html>


_This is entirely born of spending an entire day at Busch Gardens right after watching O11 for quite possibly the millionth time._

"Let's try that one!"

Danny reluctantly turned around and followed Rusty's gaze down the nearly empty street. Thus far, he had managed to talk Rusty out of The Loch Ness Monster ("C'mon, Rus, that's a kiddie ride. Let's find a real one.") and Apollo's Chariot ("Look! Food!") and The Alpengeist was conveniently down for repairs. That left The Griffon, which, naturally, was exactly what Rusty was staring at, his blue eyes glittering.

Danny was busily working up an excuse, but then Rusty turned that starry-eyed smile on him and he felt his heart melt. The words dissipated from his lips as rapidly as they had been conceived. "I… I guess," he mumbled, trying (with little success) to cover up his stutter.

Luckily, (or was that unluckily?) Rusty was too excited to hear the tiny hitch in his throat, so he promptly snatched Danny by the wrist and dragged him down the winding pathways. The park was nearly empty, so almost immediately, Rusty was dragging him up to some contraption that looked straight out of a crazy science fiction movie. The harnesses were bright red, which wasn't exactly the most comforting color. It looked suspiciously blood-like, and the last thing he wanted to be thinking about before trusting his life to some newfangled contraption was blood. But Rusty's hand was still warm on his, and there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for Rusty, even if it was something stupid, so he kept walking.

He was strapping himself into the harness at this point, and then he saw the track ahead of them. No. Nononono-NO!

Rusty must have seen the way his face contorted at the sight, for he fixed him with a confused stare. "You 'kay, Danny?"

Danny forced a smile and tried to nod, but he ended up grimacing and shaking his head. Rusty made a tiny sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a muffled question. "Uhm… I have veloxrotaphobia."

Rusty raised his eyebrows and seemed to be holding back a laugh. "You have… what, Danny?"

"Veloxrotaphobia."

"Veloco… Velor… Velo-what?"

"Veloxrotaphobia."

"What the…?"

"Velo… I don't like roller coasters, okay?"

Rusty's face suddenly turned serious. "Danny, if you don't want to, we can do something else…"

Rusty had started to sit up, as if to get out, but Danny managed to torque his hand and lay it over Rusty's arm. "I'll be okay, Rus," he nodded, "don't worry about it."

Rusty flashed him that irresistible grin again, and, at that moment, the machinery underneath them began to work. Danny more or less didn't recall any of the first section, that is, until they came to the first serious drop. They were about to tumble over the edge when the machine creaked to a stop.

He and Rusty had taken seats in the front row, with Rusty at the far left and himself only a single seat in. That meant, if he had remembered anything from school, that they were in the most danger of something breaking, something hitting them…

He managed to muffle a shriek, but Rusty was close enough to him to hear it. "Danny," he whispered, "I love you."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the drop, but it still didn't come. The suspense was going to be the death of him.

Rusty had managed to turn his arm sideways in the harness and patted Danny's arm with the few fingers he could extend that far. "Danny, it's going to be fi—"

Just then, the brakes let out and they were plummeting down the track. Danny was pretty sure he blacked out, because he had absolutely no concept of what happened, what he felt, heard, or saw. In fact, he didn't remember the rest of the entire ride. The next thing he knew, Rusty was forcing him to stand and more or less carrying him towards the exit. He became aware after a moment that he was laughing. Not just laughing, but rather cackling, almost insanely. Rusty fell against his shoulder, laughing as well. They must have been quite a sight, stumbling through the park, barely able to stand without falling against each other's shoulders. A few couples even had the nerve to grab their children by the hand and lead them closer to the younger straight couple snogging across the way. Rusty didn't seem to notice, and that was reason enough for Danny to play oblivious. He leaned his head into Rusty's shoulder and twisted his lips to brush across his pulse.


End file.
